Breastless and Beautiful--Let Survivors Live a Considered Life

Breastless and Beautiful- Let Survivors Live a Considered Life

Photo by: RTsubin 

Imagine being told you have breast cancer. It’s an early stage of breast cancer, but you still have to get a mastectomy, just to be safe. In fact, it could spread to the other breast. You’ll have to get a double mastectomy now. Would you like reconstructive surgery? We have the best of plastic surgeons here. It’s covered by your healthcare provider. If not, we can give you prosthetics or a cumfie.

According to a study done at Emory University, in the past decade, double mastectomy rates have greatly risen so that the percentage of women over 45 who got double mastectomies in early stages of breast cancer in just one breast rose from 4 to 10. Women in the age bracket from 20 to 44 went from just 11% to 33%.

The Breast Reconstruction Awareness campaign website states that, “breast reconstruction is a physically and emotionally rewarding procedure for a woman who has lost a breast due to cancer or other condition…the creation of a new breast can dramatically improve your self-image, self-confidence and quality of life.”

Did you know only 25% of women who have double mastectomies choose not to receive breast reconstruction? Did you also know that only 50% of women who receive single mastectomies choose not to receive breast reconstruction? Why are you choosing to not get the surgery? You should get surgery. Angelina Jolie got it. Everyone get its now. In fact, according to the agency for healthcare research and quality, reconstruction surgery rose by 62% between 2009 and 2014. Similarly, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, not only has reconstruction in all women who receive mastectomies increased from 46% in 1998 to 63% in 2007, but these increases are shown in specific regions of the United States such as Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, and South Dakota. So now it becomes everyone in your area is doing it too.

Photo by: PBS NewsHours

Women in America are pressured to receive reconstructive surgery after mastectomies and those that wish to receive flat chests are not considered seriously. Women who wish to receive flat chests need to be taken seriously in their requests to be able to live their considered lives.

Many women enter a doctors office, nervous and fearful. They need advice and guidance from their doctor, but they feel unprepared. One told BuzzfeedNews about it.  “I never knew it was an option not to reconstruct,” says mother of three, Tiffany Ostman.  After getting diagnosed with breast cancer when only 29, and receiving double mastectomies, breast reconstruction, complications with lymphedema, and a torn chest muscle, 10 surgeries after her reconstructive one, Tiffany Ostman decided enough was enough. Her doctor was unwelcoming of her wish for removal of her breasts, but at what point can you push your patient to keep going through more surgeries?  When can you let her decide her own fate?  Her own health? Her own life? The answer should be at the very beginning. It’s her body. It’s her choice.

After Tiffany’s breasts were explanted, she went to a follow up appointment. Maybe she was feeling nervous about her new appearance or maybe she was extremely pleased with it. Either way, her doctor examined her breasts and said, “well you have a little room in there. How would you feel about some implants?” The insensitivity is palpable. Not only was Tiffany not informed of her options, but her decisions were questioned and made a joke of.

Another woman, Kim Bowles, shares another traumatic experience with mastectomies and breast reconstruction. Kim, who had stage 3 breast cancer and is the mother of 2 young boys, always struggled with having very large breasts. 36 HH. An athlete, she often felt as though her breasts really held her back. She couldn’t move the way she wanted to with them. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Kim tried to look on the positive side. She tried to take control of the situation and make it work. She did her research on support groups online and other resources such as books. She heard others stories. She listened intently, and she tried to learn the most she could. Ultimately, she decided she wanted to be flat chested. No breasts. She then presented 6 pictures to her surgeon, detailing what she wanted, she brought her husband as an eye witness, and she wrote a letter for the doctor. She had done what she was supposed to do.

Photo by: Cosmopolitan

Imagine her surprise when she starts going under and hears her surgeon say he’s going to leave a little room in case she decides to change her mind later. Imagine her feeling when she wakes up to find little pockets on her front. The horror. She gets nauseous every time she looks at her breasts.

Of course, Kim tried to fight back. She contacted the hospital and reached out to her surgeons. She protested shirtless in the lobby of the hospital. They kicked her out. After media started getting involved, the hospital claimed the surgeon left a little bit extra for mobility of her arms. Deanne Attai, M.D., is a breast surgeon located in California. She states, "that’s bullshit. Leaving the excess skin—it’s no easier to move the arms either way.”

Kim has told her story on the Today Show, and she defines her situation as a result of “flat denial.” It resonates with many women.

One of these woman is BethAnne King who chose to go flat following the footsteps of her grandmother. Her doctor was also non compliant though. She received lumps in odd places and felt completely humiliated when she awoke from her surgery and examined her breasts. She posted on a Facebook support group, known as Breastless and Beautiful, about her disappointing results from a mastectomy, and she now manages the group to support and advise other women as they choose to go flat.  She took action just like Kim did. She fought back. Not every woman can have the courage to do this though after such a vulnerable experience.

For many women, choosing to have reconstructive surgery or not to have reconstructive surgery is no easy decision to make, but they have to make it on their own after resources and information is given to them. Women need to be given all the options before they make the decision.  Doctors need to be upfront with patients about their abilities and experiences, and they need to work with the patient’s wishes if they choose to provide her with care. The society we live in values doctors, but they need to value women’s wishes too.  Women need to receive the care they need to live their considered lives without assumptions brought to disease and other women’s bodies, concerns about worth tied to their partner and desirability, and protection of other people's confidence and insecurities. The pressure to receive reconstructive surgery after mastectomies from trusted physicians needs to stop. Those that wish to receive flat chests should be respected by their physicians. Women need to live considered lives, and they cannot do this with others projecting their beliefs of what a woman’s body should be, especially their doctors.

For more information about living a considered life, please see Audre Lorde's novel The Cancer Journals.